Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10B—ELECTRONIC MEMORY DEVICES
  • H10B43/00—EEPROM devices comprising charge-trapping gate insulators
  • H10B43/20—EEPROM devices comprising charge-trapping gate insulators characterised by three-dimensional arrangements, e.g. with cells on different height levels
  • H10B43/23—EEPROM devices comprising charge-trapping gate insulators characterised by three-dimensional arrangements, e.g. with cells on different height levels with source and drain on different levels, e.g. with sloping channels
  • H10B43/27—EEPROM devices comprising charge-trapping gate insulators characterised by three-dimensional arrangements, e.g. with cells on different height levels with source and drain on different levels, e.g. with sloping channels the channels comprising vertical portions, e.g. U-shaped channels
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
  • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
  • H01L21/02104—Forming layers
  • H01L21/02365—Forming inorganic semiconducting materials on a substrate
  • H01L21/02656—Special treatments
  • H01L21/02664—Aftertreatments
  • H01L21/02667—Crystallisation or recrystallisation of non-monocrystalline semiconductor materials, e.g. regrowth
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
  • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
  • H01L21/02104—Forming layers
  • H01L21/02365—Forming inorganic semiconducting materials on a substrate
  • H01L21/02518—Deposited layers
  • H01L21/02587—Structure
  • H01L21/0259—Microstructure
  • H01L21/02595—Microstructure polycrystalline
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L29/00—Semiconductor devices specially adapted for rectifying, amplifying, oscillating or switching and having potential barriers; Capacitors or resistors having potential barriers, e.g. a PN-junction depletion layer or carrier concentration layer; Details of semiconductor bodies or of electrodes thereof ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
  • H01L29/40—Electrodes ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
  • H01L29/401—Multistep manufacturing processes
  • H01L29/4011—Multistep manufacturing processes for data storage electrodes
  • H01L29/40117—Multistep manufacturing processes for data storage electrodes the electrodes comprising a charge-trapping insulator
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L29/00—Semiconductor devices specially adapted for rectifying, amplifying, oscillating or switching and having potential barriers; Capacitors or resistors having potential barriers, e.g. a PN-junction depletion layer or carrier concentration layer; Details of semiconductor bodies or of electrodes thereof ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
  • H01L29/66—Types of semiconductor device ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
  • H01L29/68—Types of semiconductor device ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor controllable by only the electric current supplied, or only the electric potential applied, to an electrode which does not carry the current to be rectified, amplified or switched
  • H01L29/76—Unipolar devices, e.g. field effect transistors
  • H01L29/772—Field effect transistors
  • H01L29/78—Field effect transistors with field effect produced by an insulated gate
  • H01L29/786—Thin film transistors, i.e. transistors with a channel being at least partly a thin film
  • H01L29/78642—Vertical transistors
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10B—ELECTRONIC MEMORY DEVICES
  • H10B41/00—Electrically erasable-and-programmable ROM [EEPROM] devices comprising floating gates
  • H10B41/20—Electrically erasable-and-programmable ROM [EEPROM] devices comprising floating gates characterised by three-dimensional arrangements, e.g. with cells on different height levels
  • H10B41/23—Electrically erasable-and-programmable ROM [EEPROM] devices comprising floating gates characterised by three-dimensional arrangements, e.g. with cells on different height levels with source and drain on different levels, e.g. with sloping channels
  • H10B41/27—Electrically erasable-and-programmable ROM [EEPROM] devices comprising floating gates characterised by three-dimensional arrangements, e.g. with cells on different height levels with source and drain on different levels, e.g. with sloping channels the channels comprising vertical portions, e.g. U-shaped channels
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10B—ELECTRONIC MEMORY DEVICES
  • H10B41/00—Electrically erasable-and-programmable ROM [EEPROM] devices comprising floating gates
  • H10B41/30—Electrically erasable-and-programmable ROM [EEPROM] devices comprising floating gates characterised by the memory core region
  • H10B41/35—Electrically erasable-and-programmable ROM [EEPROM] devices comprising floating gates characterised by the memory core region with a cell select transistor, e.g. NAND
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10B—ELECTRONIC MEMORY DEVICES
  • H10B43/00—EEPROM devices comprising charge-trapping gate insulators
  • H10B43/30—EEPROM devices comprising charge-trapping gate insulators characterised by the memory core region
  • H10B43/35—EEPROM devices comprising charge-trapping gate insulators characterised by the memory core region with cell select transistors, e.g. NAND
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10B—ELECTRONIC MEMORY DEVICES
  • H10B69/00—Erasable-and-programmable ROM [EPROM] devices not provided for in groups H10B41/00 - H10B63/00, e.g. ultraviolet erasable-and-programmable ROM [UVEPROM] devices
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L29/00—Semiconductor devices specially adapted for rectifying, amplifying, oscillating or switching and having potential barriers; Capacitors or resistors having potential barriers, e.g. a PN-junction depletion layer or carrier concentration layer; Details of semiconductor bodies or of electrodes thereof ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
  • H01L29/40—Electrodes ; Multistep manufacturing processes therefor
  • H01L29/401—Multistep manufacturing processes
  • H01L29/4011—Multistep manufacturing processes for data storage electrodes
  • H01L29/40114—Multistep manufacturing processes for data storage electrodes the electrodes comprising a conductor-insulator-conductor-insulator-semiconductor structure

Definitions

• Embodiments disclosed herein pertain to transistors, to arrays of elevationally-extending strings of memory cells, to methods of forming a channel region of a transistor, and to methods used in forming a memory array.
• Memory is one type of integrated circuitry, and is used in computer systems for storing data.
• Memory may be fabricated in one or more arrays of individual memory cells. Memory cells may be written to, or read from, using digit lines (which may also be referred to as bit lines, data lines, or sense lines) and access lines (which may also be referred to as word lines).
• the sense lines may conductively interconnect memory cells along columns of the array, and the access lines may conductively interconnect memory cells along rows of the array. Each memory cell may be uniquely addressed through the combination of a sense line and an access line.
• Memory cells may be volatile, semi-volatile, or non-volatile.
• Non-volatile memory cells can store data for extended periods of time in the absence of power.
• Non-volatile memory is conventionally specified to be memory having a retention time of at least about 10 years. Volatile memory dissipates, and is therefore refreshed/rewritten to maintain data storage. Volatile memory may have a retention time of milliseconds or less.
• memory cells are configured to retain or store memory in at least two different selectable states.
• the states are considered as either a“0” or a“1”.
• at least some individual memory cells may be configured to store more than two levels or states of information.
• a field effect transistor is one type of electronic component that may be used in a memory cell. These transistors comprise a pair of conductive source/drain regions having a semiconductive channel region there-between. A conductive gate is adjacent the channel region and separated there-from by a thin gate insulator. Application of a suitable voltage to the gate allows current to flow from one of the source/drain regions to the other through the MI22-6805
• Field effect transistors may also include additional structure, for example a reversibly programmable charge-storage region as part of the gate construction between the gate insulator and the conductive gate.
• Flash memory is one type of memory, and has numerous uses in modern computers and devices. For instance, modern personal computers may have BIOS stored on a flash memory chip. As another example, it is becoming increasingly common for computers and other devices to utilize flash memory in solid state drives to replace conventional hard drives. As yet another example, flash memory is popular in wireless electronic devices because it enables manufacturers to support new communication protocols as they become standardized, and to provide the ability to remotely upgrade the devices for enhanced features.
• NAND may be a basic architecture of integrated flash memory.
• a NAND cell unit comprises at least one selecting device coupled in series to a serial combination of memory cells (with the serial combination commonly being referred to as a NAND string).
• NAND architecture may be configured in a three-dimensional arrangement comprising vertically-stacked memory cells individually comprising a reversibly programmable vertical transistor.
• Transistors may be used in circuitry other than memory circuitry.
• Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a portion of an array of elevationally-extending strings of memory cells in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken through line 2-2 in Fig. 1.
• Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken through line 3-3 in Fig. 1.
• Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a portion of an array of elevationally-extending strings of memory cells in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a transistor in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a transistor in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. MI22-6805
• Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a substrate
• Fig. 8 is a view of the Fig. 7 construction at a processing step subsequent to that shown by Fig. 7.
• Fig. 9 is a view of the Fig. 8 construction at a processing step subsequent to that shown by Fig. 8.
• Embodiments of the invention encompass non-volatile transistors, semi-volatile transistors, and volatile transistors (e.g., volatile transistors that are devoid of any charge-storage material) .
• Embodiments of the invention also encompass arrays of elevationally-extending strings of memory cells, for example strings of NAND memory cells.
• Embodiments of the invention also encompass methods of forming a channel region of a transistor and methods used in forming a memory array.
• a construction 10 comprises a base substrate 11 that may include any one or more of conductive/conductor/conducting (i.e. , electrically herein), semiconductive/semiconductor/semiconducting, or insulative/insulator/insulating (i.e., electrically herein) materials.
• Various materials have been formed elevationally over base substrate 11. Materials may be aside, elevationally inward, or elevationally outward of the Figs. 1 - 3-depicted materials. For example, other partially or wholly fabricated components of integrated circuitry may be provided somewhere above, about, or within base substrate 11.
• Control and/or other peripheral circuitry for operating components within an array of transistors may also be fabricated, and may or may not be wholly or partially within a transistor array or sub-array. Further, multiple sub-arrays may also be fabricated and operated independently, in tandem, or otherwise relative one another. In this document, a“sub-array” may also be considered as an array.
• Construction 10 comprises an array 12 of elevationally-extending strings 14 of memory cells 30. Only a single string 14 is shown, with likely hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, etc. of such strings being included in array 12.
• Array 12 comprises a vertical stack 16 of alternating insulative tiers 18 and wordline tiers 20.
• Example tiers 20 comprise conductive MI22-6805
• WO 2019/133274 4 PCT/US2018/065437 material 22 examples include elemental metals (e.g., tungsten, titanium, copper, etc.), metal material (e.g. , metal nitrides, metal silicides, metal carbides, etc.), and conductively-doped-semiconductive materials (e.g. , silicon, gallium, etc.), including mixtures thereof.
• Example tiers 18 comprise insulative material 24 (e.g. , doped or undoped silicon dioxide) .
• Array 12 is shown as having seven vertically-alternating tiers 18, 20 in Fig.
• Tiers 18 and 20 may be above and/or below the depicted tiers.
• Tiers 18 and 20 may be of any suitable vertical thickness(es) and may have the same or different vertical thickness(es) relative one another. As an example, tiers 18 and 20 may have respective thicknesses of about 10 nanometers (nm) to 300 nm.
• Wordline tiers 20 have terminal ends 26 in the depicted Fig. 1 cross-section that correspond to control-gate regions 28 of individual memory cells 30. Approximate locations of memory cells 30 are indicated with brackets in Fig. 1 and with a dashed outline in Fig. 3, with memory cells 30 being essentially ring-like or annular in the depicted example.
• Control-gate regions 28 may be part of individual control-gate lines 29 (only one being shown and numerically designated in Fig. 3) that interconnect multiple memory cells 30 of multiple strings 14 within individual wordline tiers 20 in a row direction.
• Dielectric material 27 Fig. 3 ; e.g., silicon dioxide and/or silicon nitride
• Fig. 3 e.g., silicon dioxide and/or silicon nitride
• Fig. 3 e.g., silicon dioxide and/or silicon nitride
• Alternate existing or yet-to-be-developed constructions may be used.
• multiple memory cells may be formed about a single string 14 in an individual wordline tier 20, for example by bifurcating the Fig. 3-depicted control-gate line 29 longitudinally down its middle (not shown) thus creating two memory cells (not shown) that may be separately controlled if such bifurcated control-gate lines are separately controllable.
• a charge block may have the following functions in a memory cell: In a program mode, the charge block may prevent charge carriers from passing out of the charge-storage material (e.g., floating-gate material, charge-trapping material, etc.) toward the control gate, and in an MI22-6805
• the charge-storage material e.g., floating-gate material, charge-trapping material, etc.
• a charge block may prevent charge carriers from flowing into the charge-storage material from the control gate. Accordingly, a charge block may function to block charge migration between the control-gate region and the charge-storage material of individual memory cells.
• An example charge-blocking region as shown comprises insulator material 32 (e.g., silicon dioxide and/or one or more high k materials, having an example thickness of 25 to 80 Angstroms) .
• a charge-blocking region may comprise a laterally (e.g.
• an interface of a charge-storage material and conductive material of a control gate may be sufficient to function as a charge-blocking region in the absence of any separate-composition-insulator material 32.
• an interface of conductive material 22 with material 32 (when present) in combination with insulator material 32 may together function as a charge-blocking region, and as alternately or additionally may a laterally-outer region of an insulative- charge-storage material (e.g., a silicon nitride material 34) .
• an insulative- charge-storage material e.g., a silicon nitride material 34
• charge-blocking region 3 1 is formed from insulator material 32 that extends elevationally along stack 16 and in the form of a tube 23.
• charge-storage material 34 extends elevationally along stack 16 and in the form of a tube 25.
• Charge- storage material 34 may comprise any suitable composition(s) and, in some embodiments, may comprise floating gate material (e.g. , doped or undoped silicon) or charge-trapping material (e.g. , silicon nitride, metal dots, etc.).
• charge-storage material 34 may comprise, consist essentially of, or consist of silicon nitride.
• An example thickness is 50 to 80 Angstroms.
• Individual memory cells 30 comprise channel material 36 (ideally crystalline) that also extends elevationally along stack 16. In one
• channel material 36 so-extends in the form of a tube 25.
• Channel material 36 has a laterally-inner side 37 (e.g. , a radially-inner side) and a laterally-outer side 38 (e.g. a radially-outer side).
• a laterally-inner side 37 e.g. , a radially-inner side
• a laterally-outer side 38 e.g. a radially-outer side
• sides 38 and 37 are referred to as first and second opposing MI22-6805
• Example channel materials 36 include undoped or appropriately-doped crystalline semiconductor material, such as one or more of silicon, germanium and so-called III/V semiconductor materials (e.g., GaAs, InP, GaP and GaN) .
• Charge-passage material 40 (e.g., a gate insulator) is laterally
• charge-passage material 40 extends elevationally along stack 16 and in the form of a tube 33.
• Charge-passage material 40 may be, by way of example, a bandgap-engineered structure having nitrogen- containing material (e.g. , silicon nitride) sandwiched between two insulator oxides (e.g., silicon dioxide) .
• nitrogen- containing material e.g. , silicon nitride
• insulator oxides e.g., silicon dioxide
• An example thickness is 25 to 80 Angstroms.
• Construction 10 comprises a first insulating material 42 having first and second opposing sides 43 and 44, respectively.
• first insulating material 42 extends elevationally along stack 16 and in the form of a tube 39.
• First side 43 is adjacent laterally-inner side 37 (i.e. , more so than is second side 44) of channel material 36.
• Construction 10 comprises a second insulating material 46 of different composition from that of first insulating material 42 and has first and second opposing sides 47 and 48, respectively.
• second insulating material 46 extends elevationally along stack 16 and in the form of a tube 41.
• Second insulating material 46 is adjacent second side 44 of first insulating material 42.
• Example memory cell string 14 is shown as comprising a radially-central solid dielectric material 50 (e.g. , spin-on-dielectric, silicon dioxide, and/or silicon nitride) .
• a radially-central solid dielectric material 50 e.g. , spin-on-dielectric, silicon dioxide, and/or silicon nitride
• the radially- central portion of memory cell string 14 may include void space(s)
• first insulating material 42 comprises, consists essentially of, or consists of at least one of Si x O y (x and y each greater than 0), SixOyNz (x, y, and z each greater than 0), AI3O4, Zr0 2 , Hf0 2 , Pr 2 0 3 , and Ta 2 Os
• second insulating material 46 comprises, consists essentially of, or consists of at least one of S13N4, Al 2 0 3 , HfN, HfO x N y (x and y each greater than 0), HfY x O y (x and y each greater than 0), BN, A1N, SiC, diamond, diamond-like carbon, Si x N y H z (x, y, and z each greater than 0), Hf x N y H z (x, y, and z each greater than 0), HfO x N y H z (x, y, and z each greater than
• first side 43 of first insulating material 42 is directly against laterally-inner side 37 of channel material 36, and the at least one of Si x O y , Si x O y N z , AI3O4, Zr0 2 , Hf0 2 , Pr 2 0 3 , and Ta 2 Os is directly against laterally-inner side 37 of channel material 36.
• second insulating material 46 is directly against second side 44 of first insulating material 42, and the at least one of S13N4, Al 2 0 3 , HfN, HfO x N y , HfY x O y , BN, A1N, SiC, diamond, diamond-like carbon, Si x N y H z , Hf x N y H z , HfO x N y H z , HfY x O y H z , BN x H y , and AlN x H y is directly against the at least one of Si x O y , Si x O y N z , AI3O4, Zr0 2 , Hf0 2 , Pr 2 0 3 , and Ta 2 Os of first material 42.
• first insulating material 42 comprises more than one of Si x O y , Si x O y N z , AI3O4, Zr0 2 , Hf0 2 , Pr 2 0 3 , and Ta 2 Os.
• second insulating material 46 comprises more than one of S13N4, Al 2 0 3 , HfN, HfO x N y , HfY x O y , BN, A1N, SiC, diamond, diamond-like carbon , Si x N y H z , Hf x N y H z , HfO x N y H z , HfY x O y H z , BN x H y , and AlN x H y . Any other attribute(s) or aspect(s) as shown and/or described herein with respect to other embodiments may be used.
• Materials/regions 28, 3 1 , 34, 40, 36, 42, and 46 constitute an example embodiment of a transistor 55 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, and which in such embodiment is a non-volatile programmable transistor comprising charge-storage material.
• second insulating material 46 has at least one of (a), (b), and (c), where, (a) is lower oxygen diffusivity than first material 42, (b) is net positive charge (i.e. , total or overall charge that is positive even though negative charges may also be present, and also known as fixed positive charge density), and (c) is at least two times greater shear strength than first material 42.
• second insulating material 46 has (a) : lower oxygen diffusivity than first material 42, in one such embodiment oxygen diffusivity of no more than 5 x l0 u /cm 2 at 600°C, in one such embodiment at least two times lower oxygen diffusivity than first material 42, and in one such embodiment at least ten times lower oxygen diffusivity than first material 42.
• second insulating material 46 has (b) : net positive charge, with in one such embodiment having net positive charge of at least MI22-6805
• second insulating material 46 has (c) : at least two times greater sheer strength than first material 42, in one such embodiment shear strength of at least 200 GPA, and in one such embodiment at least four times greater sheer strength than first material 42.
• shear strengths of some possible second insulator materials 46 are Si 3 N 4 : 250 to 310 GPa, AI2O3: 400 GPa, BN: 440 GPa, A1N: 350 GPa,
• Example S1O2 first material has typical shear strength of 50 to 80 GPa.
• second insulating material 46 has only one of (a), (b), and (c) . In one embodiment, second insulating material 46 has only two of (a), (b), and (c). In one embodiment, second insulating material 46 has all three of (a), (b), and (c).
• channel material 36 comprises crystalline silicon
• first insulating material 42 comprises Si x O y (x and y each greater than 0)
• second insulating material 46 comprises S13N4. Any other attribute(s) or aspect(s) as shown and/or described herein with respect to other embodiments may be used.
• Fig 4 shows a construction l Oa illustrating another example
• Example memory cells 30a individually comprise a transistor 55a.
• Example charge-blocking material 32a, charge-storage material 34a, and gate insulator material 40a do not extend all along vertical stack 16 in construction lOa.
• Charge-blocking material 32a partially surrounds charge-storage material 34a. Any other attribute(s) or aspect(s) as shown and/or described herein with respect to other embodiments may be used.
• Transistors 55 and 55a are example elevationally-extending
• Transistor 55b includes control gate 28b, charge-blocking region 32b, charge-storage material 34b, and insulative-charge passage material MI22-6805
• a pair of source/drain regions 70 and 72 are within a semiconductor base material 71.
• a channel region 36b is within semiconductor base material 71 and between source/drain regions 70 and 72, with channel region 36b being under charge-passage material 40b.
• First and second insulating materials 42b and 46b are provided as shown.
• Semiconductor material 71 is shown as bulk material, although alternate constructions may be used (e.g., semiconductor-on-insulator). Any other attribute(s) or aspect(s) as shown and/or described herein with respect to other embodiments may be used.
• Each example transistors 55, 55a, and 55b as shown and described individually comprise a non-volatile programmable transistor, for example comprising a control gate, a charge-blocking region adjacent the control gate, charge-storage material adjacent the charge-blocking region; and gate insulator between the channel material and the charge-storage material.
• a volatile transistor for example one being devoid of any charge-storage material, and including an array of such transistors.
• Fig 6 shows an alternate
• Transistor 55c comprises a gate 28c (e.g., as part of an access line [not separately shown] interconnecting multiple transistors [not shown] in a row direction [not shown] ), and is shown as being devoid of any charge-storage material of the Figs l -5-constructions. Transistor 55c may of course be other than horizontally-oriented (not shown) . Any other attribute(s) or aspect(s) as shown and/or described herein with respect to other
• An embodiment of the invention comprises a method used in forming a memory array, for example, a memory array as shown in the embodiments of any of Figs. 1 -4. Example such methods are described with reference to Figs. 7-9 to result in the example finished construction of Figs. 1 -3. Like numerals from the above-described embodiments have been used for predecessor construction(s), regions, and like/predecessor materials thereof. Any attribute(s) or aspect(s) as shown and/or described herein with respect to structure embodiments may be used in the method embodiments. MI22-6805
• any attribute(s) or aspect(s) as shown and/or described herein with respect to method embodiments may be used in the structure embodiments.
• FIG. 7 shows a predecessor construction to that of Fig. 1 comprising an assembly or construction 10 comprising vertical stack 16 comprising alternating tiers 18 and 20 of different composition materials.
• One of the different composition materials i.e., at least one
• the different composition materials i.e., at least one
• assembly/construction 10 comprises at least conductive control-gate material 22 and a hollow tube 35 of amorphous channel material 36 extending elevationally through stack 16.
• Example channel materials include any of those described above, with such channel material being amorphous at this point in the depicted and described process.
• hollow tube 39 of insulator material 42 has been formed adjacent a radially-inner side (e.g. , side 37) of hollow tube 35 of amorphous channel material 36 at a temperature below a crystallization temperature at and above which amorphous channel material 36 would become crystalline.
• “amorphous” requires at least 90% by volume amorphous phase and“crystalline” requires at least 90% by volume crystalline phase (i.e. meaning at least 90% by volume total crystallinity regardless whether of one or of multiple crystalline phases).
• Different semiconductor channel materials have different crystallization temperatures at and above which such transitions/transforms from being amorphous to being crystalline. Such may, in part, depend upon type and/or quantity of conductivity-modifying dopant within the channel material.
• amorphous elemental silicon has a
• Insulator material 42 may be deposited by any suitable existing or yet-to-be- developed manners.
• One example is PECVD in an inductively-coupled plasma reactor at pressure of from 5mTorr to l OmTorr, chuck temperature of at least l75°C, and flow rate of suitable precursor(s) of 40 to 3000 seem.
• WO 2019/133274 11 PCT/US2018/065437 crystallization temperature to transform the amorphous channel material into crystalline channel material.
• such may or may not occur in presence or absence of any of second insulating material 46 (not shown in Fig. 8).
• an insulating material e.g., second insulating material 46
• the amorphous channel material comprises elemental-form silicon and the first insulating material comprises Si0 2 , with an interface of the elemental-form silicon and the Si0 2 having density of interface traps of 10 9 to 10 13 traps/cm 2 per eV, in one embodiment 10 9 to 10 11 traps/cm 2 per eV, before and after crystallization.
• hollow tube 41 of second insulating material 46 has been formed adjacent radially-inner side 44 of hollow tube 39 of insulator/first insulating material 42.
• all of second insulating material 46 is formed before transforming of amorphous channel material 36 into crystalline channel material 36.
• all of second insulating material 46 is formed after transforming of amorphous channel material 36 into crystalline channel material 36.
• at least some of second insulating material 46 is formed during the transforming of amorphous channel material 36 into crystalline channel material 36. Subsequent processing may occur, for example to fill the center of the structure with solid dielectric material 50 as shown in Fig. 1.
• Methods in accordance with the invention may be used to form structures other than that shown in Figs. 1 -3, including and not limited to horizontal structures.
• the methods as just-described may be used in forming a channel region of a transistor whether that transistor be elevationally-extending, horizontal, or of other orientation.
• amorphous channel material is formed over a substrate, with the amorphous channel material having first and second opposing sides.
• An insulator material is formed adjacent the second side of the amorphous channel material (e.g. , comprising ion implantation if the second side is not exposed and by deposition if the second side is exposed) below a crystallization temperature at and above which the amorphous channel material would become crystalline.
• WO 2019/133274 12 PCT/US2018/065437 material having the insulator material there-adjacent is subjected to a temperature at or above the crystallization temperature to transform the amorphous channel material into crystalline channel material. Any other attribute(s) or aspect(s) as shown and/or described herein with respect to other embodiments may be used.
• a first insulating material is formed adjacent the second side of the amorphous channel material below a crystallization temperature at and above which the amorphous channel material would become crystalline.
• the first insulating material has first and second opposing sides.
• the first side of the first insulating material is adjacent the second side of the amorphous channel material.
• a second channel material of different composition from that of the first channel material is formed adjacent the second side of the first insulating material.
• the amorphous channel material having the first insulating material there-adjacent is subjected to a temperature at or above the crystallization temperature to transform the amorphous channel material into crystalline channel material. Any other attribute(s) or aspect(s) as shown and/or described herein with respect to other embodiments may be used.
• Method embodiments of the invention may result in any one or more of improved string current in elevationally-extending strings of memory cells, improved channel tunneling in programmable charge-storage transistors, passivation of the backside of amorphous channel material before crystallization thereof, and reduced density of interface traps of the backside of the channel with an insulator material directly there-against.
• “elevational”,“higher”, “upper”,“lower”,“top”,“atop”,“bottom”,“above”,“below”,“under”, “beneath”,“up”, and“down” are generally with reference to the vertical direction.
• “Horizontal” refers to a general direction (i.e., within 10 degrees) along a primary substrate surface and may be relative to which the substrate is processed during fabrication, and vertical is a direction generally orthogonal thereto.
• Reference to“exactly horizontal” is the direction along the primary substrate surface (i.e. , no degrees there-from) and may be relative to which the substrate is processed during fabrication.
• “vertical” and“horizontal” as used herein are generally perpendicular directions relative one another and independent of orientation of the MI22-6805
• WO 2019/133274 13 PCT/US2018/065437 substrate in three-dimensional space substrate in three-dimensional space.
• “elevationally- extending” and“extend(ing) elevationally” refer to a direction that is angled away by at least 45° from exactly horizontal.
• “extend(ing) elevationally” and“elevationally-extending” with respect to a field effect transistor are with reference to orientation of the transistor’s channel length along which current flows in operation between the source/drain regions.
• “elevationally-extending” are with reference to orientation of the base length along which current flows in operation between the emitter and collector.
• any of the materials, regions, and structures described herein may be homogenous or non-homogenous, and regardless may be continuous or discontinuous over any material which such overlie. Further, unless otherwise stated, each material may be formed using any suitable or yet-to- be-developed technique, with atomic layer deposition, chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, epitaxial growth, diffusion doping, and ion implanting being examples.
• “thickness” by itself is defined as the mean straight-line distance through a given material or region perpendicularly from a closest surface of an immediately-adjacent material of different composition or of an immediately-adjacent region.
• the various materials or regions described herein may be of substantially constant thickness or of variable thicknesses. If of variable thickness, thickness refers to average thickness unless otherwise indicated, MI22-6805
• WO 2019/133274 14 PCT/US2018/065437 and such material or region will have some minimum thickness and some maximum thickness due to the thickness being variable.
• “different composition” only requires those portions of two stated materials or regions that may be directly against one another to be chemically and/or physically different, for example if such materials or regions are not homogenous. If the two stated materials or regions are not directly against one another,“different composition” only requires that those portions of the two stated materials or regions that are closest to one another be chemically and/or physically different if such materials or regions are not homogenous.
• a material, region, or structure is“directly against” another when there is at least some physical touching contact of the stated materials, regions, or structures relative one another.
• “over”, “on”,“adjacent”,“along”, and“against” not preceded by“directly” encompass“directly against” as well as construction where intervening material(s), region(s), or structure(s) result(s) in no physical touching contact of the stated materials, regions, or structures relative one another.
• regions-materials-components are“electrically coupled” relative one another if in normal operation electric current is capable of continuously flowing from one to the other, and does so predominately by movement of subatomic positive and/or negative charges when such are sufficiently generated.
• Another electronic component may be between and electrically coupled to the regions-materials-components.
• regions-materials-components are referred to as being "directly electrically coupled”, no intervening electronic component (e.g. , no diode, transistor, resistor, transducer, switch, fuse, etc.) is between the directly electrically coupled regions-materials-components.
• metal material is any one or combination of an elemental metal, a mixture or an alloy of two or more elemental metals, and any conductive metal compound.
• a transistor comprises channel material having first and second opposing sides.
• a gate is on the first side of the channel material and a gate insulator is between the gate and the channel material.
• a first insulating material has first and second opposing sides, with the first side being adjacent the second side of the channel material.
• WO 2019/133274 15 PCT/US2018/065437 insulating material of different composition from that of the first insulating material is adjacent the second side of the first insulating material.
• the second insulating material has at least one of (a), (b), and (c), where, (a) : lower oxygen diffusivity than the first material, (b): net positive charge, and (c) : at least two times greater shear strength than the first material.
• an array of elevationally-extending strings of memory cells comprises such transistors.
• a transistor comprises channel material having first and second opposing sides.
• a gate is on the first side of the channel material and a gate insulator is between the gate and the channel material.
• a first insulating material has first and second opposing sides, with the first side being adjacent the second side of the channel material.
• the first insulating material comprises at least one of Si x O y (x and y each greater than 0), SixOyNz (x, y, and z each greater than 0), AI3O4, Zr0 2 , Hf0 2 , RG 2 0 3 , and Ta 2 0 5 .
• a second insulating material of different composition from that of the first insulating material is adjacent the second side of the first insulating material.
• the second insulating material comprises at least one of S13N4, Al 2 0 3 , HfN, HfO x N y (x and y each greater than 0), HfY x O y (x and y each greater than 0), BN, A1N, SiC, diamond, diamond-like carbon, Si x N y H z (x, y, and z each greater than 0), Hf x N y H z (x, y, and z each greater than 0),
• an array of elevationally- extending strings of memory cells comprises such transistors.
• a method of forming a channel region of a transistor comprises forming amorphous channel material over a substrate.
• the amorphous channel material has first and second opposing sides.
• An insulator material is formed adjacent the second side of the amorphous channel material below a crystallization temperature at and above which the amorphous channel material would become crystalline.
• the amorphous channel material having the insulator material there-adjacent is subjected to a temperature at or above the crystallization temperature to transform the amorphous channel material into crystalline channel material.
• a method of forming a channel region of a transistor comprises forming amorphous channel material over a substrate.
• the amorphous channel material has first and second opposing sides.
• a first insulating material is formed adjacent the second side of the amorphous channel material below a crystallization temperature at and above which the amorphous channel material would become crystalline.
• the first insulating material has first and second opposing sides.
• the first side of the first insulating material is adjacent the second side of the amorphous channel material.
• a second insulating material of different composition from that of the first insulating material is formed adjacent the second side of the first insulating material.
• the amorphous channel material having the first insulating material there-adjacent is subjected to a temperature at or above the crystallization temperature to transform the amorphous channel material into crystalline channel material.
• a method used in forming a memory array comprises forming an assembly comprising a vertical stack comprising alternating tiers of different composition materials.
• One of the different composition materials and corresponding of the alternating tiers are insulative.
• the assembly comprises a hollow tube of amorphous channel material extending elevationally through the stack.
• a hollow tube of insulator material is formed adjacent a radially-inner side of the hollow tube of the amorphous channel material below a crystallization temperature at and above which the amorphous channel material would become crystalline.
• the amorphous channel material having the insulator material there-adjacent is subjected to a temperature at or above the crystallization temperature to transform the amorphous channel material into crystalline channel material.
• a method used in forming a memory array comprises forming an assembly comprising a vertical stack comprising alternating tiers of different composition materials.
• One of the different composition materials and corresponding of the alternating tiers is
• the assembly comprises a hollow tube of amorphous channel material extending elevationally through the stack.
• a hollow tube of first insulating material is formed adjacent a radially-inner side of the hollow tube of the amorphous channel material below a crystallization temperature at and above which the amorphous channel material would become
• a hollow tube of second insulating material is formed adjacent a radially-inner side of the hollow tube of the first insulating material.
• amorphous channel material having the first insulating material there- adjacent is subjected to a temperature at or above the crystallization temperature to transform the amorphous channel material into crystalline channel material.

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